One of my favourite visitors to the bird feeder is the great spotted woodpecker. In the woodland, views are restricted to a quick flash of black and white as it flies past, or the distant drumming. Small air pockets in the skull help cushion the impact as the woodpecker strikes the tree with its beak [...]
Blue tits and great tits are now regular visitors to our bird feeder. While there are similarities in colour, the blue tit is the smaller of the two birds. Both birds have white cheeks but the blue tit has a blue cap and a black stripe that passes through the eye. The larger great tit [...]
We are starting to see some of the woodland birds forming winter feeding flocks. In the summer the birds are spread out through the woodland, engaged in nest building and the busy duties of feeding and rearing their young. Through autumn into winter, some species start to form winter flocks, often a mixture of two [...]
During a walk around the reserve yesterday I was surprised to see that a large dragonfly, possibly a faded southern hawker (it did not settle so not definite ID.) was actively flying back and forth near the Winterbourne stream. Adult dragonflies usually have a short life compared to their nymph that live beneath the surface of [...]
The kingfisher is a popular bird but sadly they are too quick for our webcams to pick them up. The best place to see a kingfisher on the reserve is along the winterbourne stream, its over-hanging foliage and (in the summer) a quiet, gentle stream, provide ideal conditions. Fishing posts have been added along the [...]
Moorhen chicks become independent after 45 to 50m days of hatching. As they do not stay together it is difficult to know if all the chicks have survived. We have been seeing two older chicks together through ditch cam and we have also seen a older chick on its own. The young moorhens will now [...]
